1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tool for picking up sheet material, such as papers, especially for picking up coffee filter papers.
2. Related Art
In recent years, automatic coffee makers have become widely used. They are especially popular in offices and in commercial establishments, where large amounts of coffee are served. The coffee makers typically have an upper reservoir where water is heated and slowly released over a supply of ground coffee located below the reservoir. The supply of ground coffee is placed in a cup-shaped filter paper, which, in turn, is placed in a cup-shaped holder. The hot water slowly drips from the reservoir through the coffee grounds into a container positioned below the holder. The filter papers retain the coffee grounds, while letting the liquid coffee through and, thus, are an integral part of providing clear grounds-free coffee.
The cup-shaped filter papers, generally called coffee filters, are usually sold in a stack, which may contain as many as a hundred filters per pack. The filter papers generally have a rippled or flute-like shape. This shape, combined with the stacking and static attraction, causes the filters to adhere to one another, making it difficult to retrieve a single filter from the stack by hand. It is not uncommon to pick up two or three filters at a time, although only one is desired. Due to the thinness of the filter paper, this may not always be noticed; however, the quality of the coffee is noticeably diminished if two or more coffee filters are mistakenly used in the coffee holder. This inability to extract a single coffee filter quickly and easily is a particular inconvenience in commercial establishments, where large amounts of coffee are served, often under severe time pressures.
Attempts have been made to solve this problem by providing coffee filter dispensers. Two such dispensers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,673 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,324. Such dispensers, however, necessitate the storage of the coffee filters in the dispensing device. A small hand-held tool for picking up coffee filters, on the other hand, could be carried around in one's pocket and used to pick up coffee filters at different locations. In addition, a hand-held device could easily be left in each nest of coffee filters and used as the need arises. Prior pick-up devices include the pick-up tongs for picking up trash disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,347. These pick-up tongs, however, operate on a different principle and would not be suitable for lifting coffee filters.